Progress in hepatitis C virus management in chronic kidney disease

Abstract

Purpose of reviewThe current review highlights advances in the use of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in chronic kidney disease (CKD) stages G4-5, end-stage renal disease, and kidney transplantation. The use of DAA to facilitate kidney transplantation of HCV negative recipients with kidneys from HCV-infected donors and in the management of HCV-related cryoglobulinemia are also reviewed.Recent findingsDAA treatment results in rates of viral clearance (sustained virological response or SVR) of 90–100% in all studied CKD populations, comparable to SVR rates in the general population. DAA treatment allows safe and effective transplantation of HCV viremic kidneys into uninfected recipients.SummaryThe high SVR results achieved with DAA allow successful treatment of previously under-treated CKD populations, and encouraged innovative interventions such as the use of HCV-infected donor kidneys to uninfected kidney transplant recipients.

The Seroprevalence of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in Hemodialysis Patients in Oman: A National Cross-Sectional Study

“…The risk factors for acquiring HCV infection in dialysis units include risks associated with dialysis unit like the number of patients in relation to the number of staff, duration of dialysis, use of multi-dose medication vials, number of blood transfusions, history of organ transplant, previous surgery and history of intravenous drug use [ 5 , 6 ]. HCV treatment is now available and antiviral medicines can cure 90–100% of persons with hepatitis C infection [ 7 ].…”